CHON BURI - Immigration police in Pattaya have arrested a group of foreign nationals accused of using children and people with disabilities to solicit money from tourists.
Officers from Chon Buri Immigration carried out the operation on Tuesday in response to public complaints from residents and tourists concerned about the image of the resort city.
(Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
Plainclothes officers posing as tourists patrolled popular areas and tourist hotspots, where they identified several individuals accompanied by young children or people with physical disabilities while asking for money.
Seven adults — five women and two men — all Cambodian nationals, were taken into custody. Also found were eight young girls, aged between three and 10, believed to have been used to attract sympathy from passers-by.
(Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
The suspects reportedly told police they had been begging in busy tourist areas to earn around 300 to 500 baht per day. They said they lived together in rented rooms in Si Racha district of Chon Buri and travelled to Pattaya by local transport.
Some claimed to have been in Thailand for over a decade, with children already enrolled in local schools.
All of the suspects were taken for processing at the Pattaya police station. Officers said they would face legal action before being deported.
(Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)